Sharon's Blog

(Praying and worshiping with Disciples international mission partners is one of the privileges of serving as General Minister and President. Recently that opportunity came in Cuba when Brite Divinity School, as part of a course, sponsored a visit to the island to study pastoral care. Rick Lowery and I tagged along.)

We were nearing the end of worship on this Sunday in Havana. Global Ministries missionary and church history scholar Dr. Carmelo Alvarez called me up to the front of the church. We were going to participate in a tradition, he said – a tradition of reconciliation. Citizens of Cuba and the United States have much to forgive. Christians of every nation, however, have confidence that God’s power through Jesus Christ to reconcile is stronger than what lies between us. And so we prayed.

My assignment was to talk about interreligious engagement. It didn’t seem too difficult a topic given the recent shooting in Kansas City. The interconnections between Christians and Jews would be obvious. The shooter had meant to kill Jews but unintentionally had targeted Christians, showing that we’re all in this life together. Hate hurts all of […]

Our hearts break for the families and friends of the three people murdered at a Jewish Community Center and senior home in Overland Park on Sunday. We lift them in prayer. We mourn with our Jewish brothers and sisters for this brutal assault on their community. We hold them in prayer. We stand in solidarity with them in this tragic, frightening moment, particularly coming at the holy seasons for both Christians and Jews.

The word of shootings at the Jewish Community Center in suburban Kansas City reached me early Sunday evening. An all-too-familiar array of emotions coursed through me – grief for lives cut so randomly short, shock that something could cause a person to arbitrarily take these lives.

I immediately reached out to Jewish colleagues knowing that this would be deeply wounding to them and wanting to stand in solidarity as a friend and partner.

This is one of several posts focusing on four of the key words in the Disciples identity statement. In this case, Dr. Watkins tells of a place she saw the concept of “table” lived out in an Oklahoma congregation.

Note: Rev. Dr. Robert Welsh, president of the Council on Christian Unity, provided the following as a guest contributor to Sharon’s Blog. You can read more about the Council on Christian Unity on their web site at www.disciples.org/ccu.

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One of the first experiences I had after arriving in Busan, South Korea for the 10th Assembly of the World Council of Churches was to be invited to attend a “traditional Korean meal” hosted by the PROK (Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea). It was amazing event! By the end of the meal there had been over hundred small dishes placed before us – involving several “courses” from the appetizer to the dessert. One would simply pick and choose what to take from the different bowls; it was all delicious in the blending of spices and sauces and textures. Indeed, for me, this meal became a symbol of the Busan Assembly in being invited to attend “An Ecumenical Feast.”